Lightning Strike X Six?
Won Over By Reality
by Tim Bayer
WEBSTER, NY—(Weekly Hubris)—4/19/10—BOOM!
I was awakened by a LOUD thunder crash from a lightning strike. A fast moving storm was rolling though town. I got out of bed and started to reconnoiter for damage. I looked out windows I passed and saw heavy rain, wind and lightning. Nothing was on fire in or outside the house and all the trees in the yard were still standing. So far, so good.
From the kitchen, I heard a chirping, squeaking racket in my basement, and went down to investigate. The speaker for the alarm system was lying on the floor, chirping, then squeaking, then chirping in continually changing “voices,” as though it were in pain. “Chirp! ErrrRRRRrrrrrr. Chirp. CHIRP! Chirp. ErrrrOOooOOrrr. Chirp. CHIRP!” It was pitiful and amusing at the same time.
The transformer for the alarm system had exploded. Little plastic bits from the transformer housing were on the floor. The transformer itself was disassembled but still attached to the wall, with the main unit dangling by two wires. There were black burn marks in the alarm system box, and the battery had black marks charred on the side. Disassembled but not completely disabled, the alarm system was fighting to report a detected problem, putting forth a valiant effort. I was able to relieve the agony of the moaning speaker when I disconnected the battery, allowing the mortally wounded system to rest . . . in pieces.
The alarm system was now quiet and my house-wide inspection left me confident that there was no other obvious damage inside the house: no sparks, no smoke, no fire and no serious problems that needed my immediate attention. I headed back to bed.
In the morning, I awoke to a clear sky and sunshine. I looked outside and saw that my truck, a Ford Explorer, was lurching to the right and covered with mud. The Explorer had also taken a lightning hit the night before, as well as the tree next to the driveway, my driveway, my lawn, and my garage.
Pieces (3 and 4 inches in length and 2 to 3 inches wide) of my driveway were in the neighbor’s backyard—some were 40 feet from the position they had formerly occupied in my driveway.
The front right tire on the Explorer was flat. The entire top of the vehicle was covered with dirt, sticks, tree bark, and driveway pieces. It looked as though the Explorer had just returned, solo, from 4-wheeling in the mud. The pieces of the driveway that had taken up residence in the neighbor’s backyard started out near the front and back tires of the Explorer. There was a line, actually more like a small ditch, going from the tree, past the basketball hoop, to the front tire of the truck. Mud, grass, and pavement had bounced off the closed garage door and there was a small collection of gravel and debris at the base of the garage door.
The plastic cap for the button to open the garage door was missing. I found it on the driveway 12 feet away. I’m not a plastic surgeon, but I put the cap back in its original position over the button. The aesthetics seem close but I think a full recovery is out of the question.
I could not call work to tell them I would be late that morning because my phone was dead.
So, I got to spend the first hour of a lovely spring day changing a tire on my truck and surveying damage. I took video of the scene for posterity’s sake. Later, I did some editing work to describe the lightning strike. Here is a link to the video.
(I’m just glad I don’t live with Dorothy and Toto. . . .)
The good news is that nothing in the house caught fire and the damage was relatively minor.
Epilogue:
Lightning moves in mysterious ways. Besides the Explorer, lawn and driveway, a few electronic devices inside the house were damaged. Here is the list of damage from the lightning strike:
Ford Explorer Repairs
- Front tire
- Ignition computer
- Passenger side headlight bulb
Driveway & Yard Repairs
- Driveway pavement was filled and patched
- Soil and grass seed was needed for lawn repair
House Repairs
- One phone on the second floor (other phones in the house were undamaged)
- Alarm system control box
- Alarm system battery (The alarm system speaker survived and was connected to the replacement system.)
Tim Bayer
Tim Bayer, Webmaster, and Assistant Editor of Weekly Hubris, was born and brought up in Webster, New York. He attended St. Bonaventure University, earning a BS in Computer Science, and then worked in the hi-tech world. In 2002 he turned his creative energies to product development and video production with the release of his first independently produced products. When the demand for web site design and freelance writing increased, he once again switched skill sets . . . to writing and web work. An avid or, to be more accurate, rabid, disc golfer, he may often be found chasing plastic while in pursuit of the perfect round on a disc golf course, or designing and developing disc golf products for Demogrid.com. He says he tries to find the humor hidden in everyday experiences, because, “life is too important to be taken seriously.” (Author photo by Tim Bayer. Author Head Shot Augment: René Laanen.)